A skittering of leaves sounded behind him as something quickly approached. I caught a glimpse of reddish-brown hair and a long tail before arms came around Lake’s neck and legs around his torso.
“Kuya will save Evan!” He started nipping at Lake’s throat. “Kuya kill.”
Kill Lake with cuteness, maybe.
Lake could’ve easily thrown Kuya off him. I’d witnessed how quickly he could move. And with his muscles, he had strength on top of that stealth and swiftness. But he allowed Kuya to gnaw at his neck, not even lifting his arms to try to stop him when a bead of blood trickled down.
“It’s okay!” I rushed forward, closing the small space between us. “No killing for Kuya. Stop biting him. Lake is my friend.”
“Kuyais Evan’s friend.” He lifted his head. “Lake is a bad wolf who stole Evan away.”
At the word “bad,” Lake’s ears drooped.
“He’s not bad,” I said, my heart constricting. Surprise flashed across Lake’s face as he looked at me. “He just wanted to talk to me.”
“Okay, he can live for now.” Kuya hopped down from Lake’s back and stepped around him, grabbing me. He hid his face against my shoulder. “Kuya was so scared.”
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” Lake told him. He slowly wiped at his neck, then glanced at the small streaks of blood on his fingers. “I should head home.”
“There’s a festival soon,” I blurted out. “Food, music, and games to celebrate the beginning of summer. This will be my first year going, but I heard it’s fun. You should come.”
“The Festival of Lights,” Lake said with a bit of wistfulness. “Each year, I see the lanterns as they float up to the sky but never dared venture closer. I’ve always thought they were beautiful.”
“I’m excited to see them for the first time. We can experience it together.”
“I can’t. The humans will take one look at me and…” He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be wise for me to attend.”
Kuya nuzzled me once before hopping over to a hollowed-out log jutting from the grass. He dropped down and tried to look beneath it. What a brave soul. I would’ve bet my left nut a snake was under there, just waiting to strike. He sneezed at something before crawling inside the log.
“He’s going to get bit,” I said with a sigh. “And then Sawyer will have my head.”
Lake offered me a thin smile. “I assure you he’s the deadliest thing over there. His teeth are like tiny needles.” He rubbed at his neck again.
“Sorry about that. Does it hurt too bad? I can grab a healing tonic from the clinic and bring it back to you.”
“I’m fine,” Lake said. “Demi-humans heal faster.”
“Really? Wow. That’s cool.” There was still so much about this world I didn’t know—about the customs, forms of magic, and the different beings who inhabited the land.
“It’s late,” he then said. “Your men will be worried about you.”
Briar was still at the academy and didn’t know I wasn’t in bed, safe and sound. But Maddox? If he had returned from his mission to find me gone, he’d send a search party soon. If he hadn’t already.
“We should hang out again soon,” I said.
“Hang out?”
“Visit with each other,” I clarified, then grinned. “But maybe don’t abduct me next time. I almost pissed my pants.”
“Understood.” Lake exhaled through his nostrils and lifted a hand to the back of his hair, scratching. He looked so awkward and shy. “I suppose this is farewell, then. For now.”
“Yeah.” Neither of us moved. “Oh!” I looked over at the log. “Kuya, did you bring my bag by chance?”
“Evan’s bag of presents,” came his reply, his voice echoing a bit in the hollow wood. “Kuya dropped it in the grass before pouncing on Lake.”
“Wait just a second,” I told Lake before going over and searching the ground for the bag. Finding it, I rifled through it for the book I bought and opened to the first page where I’d placed a bookmark. I then jogged back over to him. “Here.”
Carefully, he grabbed it, head tilting. “A strip of leather?”
